How To Double Sales When Times Are Tough

LONDON – July 24, 2013: The last four years have been tough for
the motor trade – but one Mazda dealer has managed to double sales
and turnover in that time and says that profits are “well on the way
to doubling” too.

That dealer is Floyd Timms, a former National Sales Manager for Mazda,
who now owns Lodge Garage in Buckinghamshire.

Was it a case of liking the business so much he bought into the
franchise? “Something like that,” says Timms who bought the
30-year-old dealership in Kingswood, between Aylesbury and Bicester, in
2009.

“Being a car dealer is something I was always minded to do and
working with Mazda for 13 years gave me the background knowledge and
opportunity. It had to be the right fit, I was looking for an owner driver
type of business that required some attention, and, very important, had
potential.”

Despite a very rural location Floyd has pulled the business up and it is
now regularly among Mazda’s top performing dealerships. He added:
“We are now approaching our fourth year and we have seen sales and
turnover double and our profits are well on the way to doubling as
well.

“There have been challenges particularly in my early days in
ownership while we were waiting for new product to come through. That is
now happening and particularly with the arrival of the new CX 5 last year
and Mazda6 this year we are in a good position to push on.”

Having seen the dealer business from both sides of the fence, Timms said
he has a high level of understanding as to “how the whole machine
ticks”. He continued: “I suppose I have an inside track to a
degree on how things work from the manufacturing end. Things such as the
ordering process, where the cars have to come from and when they land in
the UK.

“That said, I don’t think this has given me a huge advantage
over other dealers but it has allowed me to educate the rest of the team in
how things work.”

Being “in the middle of nowhere” as he puts it, how has
Lodge Garage been able to double its sales and attract new customers? Floyd
said: “The internet plays a big part and we have a very strong
presence on the web. This has been particularly important in terms of used
car sales and we attract customers from Land’s End to John
O’Groats.

“We also have strong affiliations with local sports clubs and that
helps get the garage and Mazda’s name out there. Support from Mazda
in terms of TV and national advertising also helps drive
footfall.”

While support from Mazda UK has generally been first class, Timms
believes that the increasing level of technology on cars is going to make
training for dealership staff even more important.

“Customers are aware of SKYACTIV technology but it is still up to
our sales people to get the message across and that’s where
Mazda’s Academy training can play an increasing role. There is
already a robust level of training but one area to look at for the future
would be to instruct sales people better in demonstrating and articulating
better the ever increasing technologies on the cars.